About Kōichi Kido
Marquess Kōichi Kido (木戸 幸一, Kido Kōichi) (July 18, 1889 – April 6, 1977) was a Japanese statesman who served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to emperor Hirohito throughout World War II. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he served 6 years before being released in 1953. == Early life == Kōichi Kido was born on July 18, 1889, in Akasaka, Tokyo to Marquess Takamasa Kido and Sueko Yamao. He was the grand-nephew of Kido Takayoshi, one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration. After graduating from the Gakushuin Peer's School in Tokyo, he went to the law school of Kyoto University, where Marxist economist Hajime Kawakami was one of his professors. After graduation in 1915, he held numerous minor bureaucratic posts in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, followed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Together with Shinji Yoshino and Nobusuke Kishi, he was one of the architects of the Strategic Industries Control Act on 1931, which set the stage for state control of numerous industries during the increasing militarization of Japan in the 1930s. Kido became chief secretary of the Home Ministry in 1930. == Political career == When his long-time friend Fumimaro Konoe became Prime Minister of Japan in 1937, Kido was named Minister of Education. From January 1938, he concurrently held the post of Minister of Health and Welfare. In January 1939, Kido was appointed Home Minister in the Hiranuma Cabinet.
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